HSBC's 2015 profit slips to $13.5 B on fourth-quarter loss
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HSBC says profit last year dipped 1 percent to $13.5 billion after it unexpectedly posted a loss for the final quarter.
Europe's biggest bank said Monday that it lost $1.3 billion in the final three months of 2015, compared with a $511 million profit in the same period the year before.
Chairman Douglas Flint said the results were "broadly satisfactory." He said in a statement that last year was marked by "seismic shifts in global economic conditions," notably sharp falls in prices for oil and other commodities, partly stemming from slowing growth in China.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The bank has been steadily trimming back its global operations as part of a sweeping reorganization in order to focus on Asia, where it expects the region's growing numbers of wealthy to drive profits.